One of the most frustrating aspects of golf is a tee shot that hooks or slices. Although all shots taken from the fairway and putting can also cause frustration, a bad tee shot can set the player back. A lost ball, or having to correct from a bad lie can shake a player's confidence and most certainly will cause additional strokes to be added.
For a right handed player, a hook occurs when a ball shifts from moving right to moving to the far left during flight, while a slice occurs when the trajectory changes from left to far right. For a left handed player, a slice occurs when a ball moves to the far left and a hook occurs when a ball moves to the far right. Hooks or slices are typically caused by improperly gripping the club or an improper swing. They typically stay with a player for some time and it is difficult to correct from them. Less advanced golfers will inconsistently tee off in one direction or another without understanding what they are doing to cause the ball to travel away from the intended direction.
The universally accepted golf tee is a simple tee comprising a stem that is insertable into the ground with a depression in the top to accept and retain a golf ball. This tee holds the golf ball in an elevated position above the ground, prior to the tee shot, but does not correct the trajectory of the traveling ball.
It is advantageous for a tee shot to project the golf ball straight down the fairway and to travel the distance the player desires, for the most part this is as far as possible.
Many solutions have been proposed to achieve this. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,033,269, issued Mar. 10, 1936 to Williams and U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,263,issued Apr. 14, 1970 to Arrington, disclose a shield or cup that extends upward and shields the ball from the impact of the club. While these designs do make a difference to the spin imparted to the ball, they may decrease the distance the ball will travel.
Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,027, issued on Mar. 30, 1976 to Brown, proposes a tee with a projection extending outwardly for meeting the golf club prior to the ball. This design supposedly imparts an initial backward spin to the ball and may improve the flight characteristics of the ball and thus the distance traveled. It may also be difficult to properly use and thus will provide for inconsistent results.
Yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,879, issued Jan. 11, 1983 to Messer discloses a tee with arms for partially encircling and frictionally gripping the golf ball to control the spin and trajectory. This design is fairly complex, the use requires thought and consideration and it would likely not be permitted in tournaments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,909, issued Dec. 6, 1983 to Messana describes using an adhesive to hold the golf ball in place on the tee. Use of the adhesive results in providing anti-spin characteristics necessary to reduce ball hooks and slices. The adhesive must be applied to the tee in a suitable quantity and size to achieve the desired result.
Although all of the above patents describe a tee which may control spin and reduce hooks and slices they either decrease the distance the ball will travel, provide inconsistent results or are complex to use and require planning prior to setting up the tee.
Clearly it is obvious that a simple to use tee which will provide consistently straight drives without providing additional drag or resistance to the golf ball is needed.